Trade And Commerce Flashcards
(27 cards)
The system of mercantilism did what?
The British colonies had been obliged to send most of their produce to Britain, to buy British manufactured goods, and use British ships for both their imports and exports.
How was British economic dominance sustained?
By limited application of force, the ‘imperialism of free trade’.
Why did most colonies want to trade with Britain?
Partly out of a sense of loyalty, or perhaps a feeling of duty to do so, but also because it was easier.
Trading patterns had been well established and, at least as far as commerce was concerned, the countries of the Empire used a common language or tied currency and shared a common system of commercial law.
What percentage of Britain’s imports came from its colonies by 1875?
Around 20%
What else supported the growth in trade?
Technological improvements
- Railways
-Steamships
-Underwater cables
- Telegraph lines
- Innovations in banking and company organisation
What did ‘Clippers’ carry?
Clippers sailed all over the world, taking low-volume, high-profit goods
eg) tea, opium and spices
Why do Historians use the term ‘railway imperialism’?
The building of railways was key to economic development and ensured British control.
How did railways increase exports form the colonies?
They opened up the Canadian prairies
Enabled Australia to export its wheat and wool
Offered South Africa a chance to expand its territories and commercial interests into the interior
In India it linked the cotton and jute-growing areas of the North will the mills of Bombay and Calcutta and enabled rice to reach ports for export
In West Africa railways provided the vital link between the interior areas of production and the sea
What is invisible trade?
The provision of services or investment overseas, money made in this way is referred to as ‘invisible earnings’.
international transaction that does not include an exchange of tangible goods
What did railways facilitate?
Commercial enterprise
How did rivers facilitate trade?
They were important means of transport for trading products.
Rivers sometimes were straightened, diverted and deepened to better thus process.
What is an example of canals and rivers being used for trade?
In India, new canals were built on a huge scale after 1857.
Canada, 1867, canals deepened around St Lawrence to overcome height difference between Lake Eyrie and Ontario.
What were most colonial economies built on?
Agriculture.
What resources did Canada, New Zealand and Australia produce?
Cheap foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials such as wool.
These colonies produced goods that were available in Europe, but at a cheaper price.
What did the Tropical colonies produce?
Goods that were not available in Europe such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, groundnuts, copra and palm oil.
Why was the price of the tropical produce cheap despite small amount of production?
Native farmers were willing to sell at whatever price they offered - and sometimes these fell very low.
The British also used plantations.
Why was the Tea trade expanded?
Huge market, most popular drink amongst Britons. Before the close of 19th century.
What metal was found in Nigeria?
Tin
What was found along the Gold Coast?
Gold…
What metal was found in Sierra Leone?
Diamonds
Which discovery of ore captured the most British attention?
Gold in South Africa.
1886, gold deposits found in Witwatersrand.
This prompted a gold rush to the previously struggling, rather poor, Dutch-Boer republic of the Transvaal.
How many British labourers did the transvaal mines require and bring ?
30,000 travelled there from Britain.
Such an influx of migrants encouraged British ambitions in the area.
How were expectations further fuelled in the Transvaal?
The discovery of diamonds.
This led to the formation of the Kimberley Diamond Syndicate in 1890.
